


River's Edge

by bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, bughead - Freeform, injured jughead, sleuths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-26 18:17:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9915083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid/pseuds/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid
Summary: Betty and Jughead are looking for clues by the river's edge when things take a turn for the worse.





	

"Jughead!" Betty's shout echoed around the empty forest. "Come over here!" She was crouched next to what she had found, looking at it closely. She heard Jughead emerge from the forest to and squat down next to the river with her.

"What is that...?" He questioned, leaning close

"Look, Jason was wearing all white when he was killed, I think this is part of his shirt" Betty said with a hint of excitement. This was the first real clue that they had found. They had been scouring the area between where Cheryl and Jason had been found on both sides of the river, trying to find some kind of clue as to what had happened.

"Or it could just be a random piece of clothing" Jughead said softly. Betty could feel his gaze on her, but she didn't return it, looking up river instead.

"Cheryl was found up there, saying that they fell out and she swam right to shore. But we know now that they made it to the other side safely. But Jason’s body was found back on the Riverdale side of the river, so maybe he was brought back over here and killed, or killed and taken over here. But this shows that he was over here" Betty gestured slightly wildly at the muddy scrap.

"Maybe, Betty." Jughead spoke with a gentleness, but Betty could hear all of the words that he wasn't saying. She finally met his gaze, raising her chin defiantly.

"I know what you are thinking, but we found something. We found what could be part of Jason’s shirt, that's something." Betty wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Jughead or herself. Jughead reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently.

"Betty, this is a dead end. First of all, we don’t know if this is Jason’s. And even if it is, it can’t really help us. We don’t know if this is where it landed or if it washed ashore. It could’ve started out miles away on the opposite side of the river for all we know. It can’t tell us anything..."

"I know!" Betty stood up and took a few steps away, feeling frustrated. "I know all of the things that we don't know Juggie, you don't have to tell me. They are the things that keep me up at night." Jughead stood up and walked over to where she was. He cupped her head in his hands and stroked her cheeks with his thumb.

"Betty, we will find answers, we will figure this out, I promise. But I don't think we are going to find them out here. Besides, the police already swept this entire riverbank."

"Then why didn't they find the fabric?" Betty asked, looking up at him. 

"I don't know" He admitted 

"Maybe because we are looking closer, or maybe things have changed since the police were here." Betty suggested "Whatever the reason, I feel like we have to keep looking. I need answers Juggie." She pleaded. Jughead looked at her for a few moments, then he sighed and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead.

"Okay, we'll keep looking" He stepped back, but Betty grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body close to his. Betty put her arms around his neck and threaded her fingers through his hair, displacing his hat. Jughead hated to be without his hat, but at the moment, he didn't seem to mind. His mouth moved against hers hungrily. Betty kissed him back hard, when they pulled away she cupped his face and brought their foreheads together.

"Thank you" She said softly. Jughead gave a low chuckle.

"Hell, if this is the way you thank me, I'll do anything for you."

"Not just for this today. Thank you for helping me with everything. Thank you for helping with the Blue and Gold and for being my co-sleuth. Thank you for helping me figure this out and for listening to all of my rants." Betty put her arms around his waist and pulled him in for a hug.

"Betty, I would do anything for you, and I'm glad you came to me with all of this. To tell you the truth, I want to figure out what happened just as much as you do." Jughead kissed the top of her head and released her. He reached into his bag and pulled out a plastic sandwich bag. "I'll get the piece of shirt and then we can keep looking" He gave her an adorable smile, made cuter by the messy hair, and turned back to the river's edge. Betty bent to retrieve his hat from where it had fallen. She stood up at the same time as Jughead, but as he turned to walk back to her, his foot got caught in a root. Almost in slow motion, Betty watched helplessly and he went down hard, the momentum rolling him into the fast moving river.

"Jughead!" She screamed, running to the edge and frantically scanning the surface for him. She finally spotted him downstream aways, fighting against the current. Betty sprinted down the river bank until she reached him and dove into the water without a second thought.

Betty was a good swimmer, but it took all of her effort to fight the current to reach Jughead. She finally got to him after what felt like hours. She wrapped her arms around her waist and propped his head on her shoulder. She couldn't tell if he was breathing, but he was limp in her arms.

"Come on Juggie, come on, please be okay." Betty made the slow journey back to the shore. She wasn't sure if they were going to make it, but they did. Betty flung herself onto the closest rock, dragging Jughead up beside her. She leaned over him and took his face in her hands. "Jughead! Jughead please wake up!" She shook him lightly. To her relief, he started coughing, water spewing from his mouth. Betty threw herself on top of him, too exhausted and relieved to do anything else. After a few moments she felt Jughead's arms wrap around her.

"Betty?" She sat up, pulling him up with her. He was pale, his lips were blue, he had a cut above his eyebrow, but he was alive. That was all that mattered.

"Thank god, I was so scared" She whimpered. Jughead furrowed his brow and reached up to brush her wet hair away from her face.

"You saved me" He whispered hoarsely. "I'm okay Betty, it's okay. You saved me" He brought her into a tight hug and shushed her as she cried. She knew this should be the other way around, that she should be comforting him, but she had been so scared that she had lost him. They stayed like that for a while, wet, cold, and clinging to each other like their lives depended on it. Only when Betty felt Jughead shiver did she pull away.

"Come on, we need to get into some warm clothes and get you patched up." She touched the cut on his forehead lightly. Jughead nodded and Betty helped pull him to his feet. As soon as he tried to put weight down on his right ankle however, he collapsed against her.

"I think I twisted it when I got it caught in the root." Jughead said with a gasp.

"Do you need help? I can go, let me go get help for you. You stay here and I’ll run to town and get someone." Betty spoke fast, words spilling out with fear.

"No" Jughead said firmly shaking his head. "Just help me." He put his arm around her shoulders and she wrapped hers around his waist. They slowly began to make their way back to town, Jughead leaning heavily on Betty. He may be thin, but he was heavier than he looked and soaking wet and soon her entire shoulder had gone numb.

"Let's take a break" She said finally, half for herself and half for Jughead, who was both panting and shivering. She helped him sit down on a log and sat down next to him, turning so she could look at him closely. He was paler than usual, his moles standing out against his white skin. His face was scrunched in pain. She touched his cheek and didn’t like how cold it felt. "Please let me go get help." Betty whispered, already knowing the answer.

"No" Jughead said simply. Betty knew that he didn't want the attention. He didn't want the entire town finding out what had happened. He would get sympathetic or pitying looks, he might also get teased. Jughead liked to stay in the shadows as much as possible. He came into the light for Archie and Betty, but he prefered to keep away from the general population.

"Okay" Betty said with a sigh, standing back up. "I think we're almost there anyways. We can go to my house, my parents are both working late tonight." Jughead gave her a grateful look and they resumed their slow walk.

Finally, they made it to Betty's house. They had to take the long way around in some places to avoid the general population, but they succeed in making it without running into any prying eyes. They hobbled up the stairs and Betty sat Jughead down in her chair.

"I'm going to go get some of my Dad's clothes, so you can get out of those wet ones." She said and hurried out the door. She grabbed a T-shirt and sweatpants that looked like they might fit Jughead and brought them back. "Here, these should work. You can change in there" Betty pointed at the bathroom. Jughead smiled at her and limped over. While he was changing, Betty grabbed her own shirt and sweatpants and changed into them. Glad to peel off the cold wet clothes and change into something warm. She left to grab some extra blankets and the first aid kit and when she came back, Jughead was sitting on her bed, leaning against the headboard with his eyes closed. 

"Thanks" he mumbled, eyes still closed, "that feels a lot better." Betty threw a blanket at him, causing him to open up his eyes and give her a look.

"Let me fix you up" She said, bringing the first aid kit over the the bed and sitting next to him

"No, I'm alright" he waved her away "I'm just cold and I want to sleep"

“Jughead, let me help you” Betty said, growing slightly annoyed.

“You can help me by getting under these covers with me and keeping me warm while I sleep” Jughead gave her a look that told her he wasn’t joking.

"How about this, you let me bandage your cut and take a look at your ankle and then we can snuggle together in this bed for as long as you want. Deal?" Betty wagged her eyebrows at him, knowing that he couldn't resist. Cuddling was one of his favorite activities, after eating of course.

"Deal" Jughead said with a grin, sitting up so she could reach him. As delicately as possible, she cleaned his cut, put antibiotic ointment on it, and put a bandage over it. She felt Jughead's gaze on her, but she avoided it, refusing to be distracted from her work. After the cut was taken care of she moved to his leg. She rolled up his sweatpants and looked at his ankle. It was swollen, but it didn't look too bad.

"Juggie, I know very little about injuries, just what I've seen from the other cheerleaders and in movies...but I'm hoping this is just sprained. I will wrap it, but you should try to keep off of it as much as possible. Also ice and elevate it."

"Yeah, yeah, R.I.C.E., rest, ice, compression, elevation. I know the drill" Jughead sounded almost bored.

"If this doesn't feel better in a few days I'm dragging your butt to the doctors" Betty tried to sound fierce, but she couldn't help but smile. Jughead smiled back and gave her a mock salute.

"Yes ma'am." He also tried to be serious but failed. Betty finished with his ankle and then crawled back up to where he sat and threw the covers over them. Jughead wrapped his arms around her and shifted so that he was lying down, pulling her down with him. She settled with her head against his chest, she could hear his heart beating steadily.

"Juggie?"

"Hmm?"

"Never scare me like that ever again."

"Darling, sleuthing is a dangerous game, I can't make that kind of promise." Betty lifted up her head so that he could look into her eyes and tell that she was being serious. Jughead was always good and reading her eyes and her expressions. This time was no different, his grin faded as he looked at her. He nodded seriously, "I promise" he whispered and bent down to kiss her on the forehead. Satisfied, she snuggled up against him once more. Within moments she heard the small snoring that indicated that Jughead was asleep. Betty felt herself being pulled down as well. She knew her mom would probably come home and freak out, but at the moment she couldn't bring herself to care.

All that mattered was that Jughead was safe.


End file.
